Homeowners learn maintenance, repair skills at fix-it school

Press Photos/Lance Wynn She's got skills: Cheryl Palmitier, who finished the addition to her home in Northwest Grand Rapids, is a veteran of several home maintenance classes through Home Repair Services.

Ten months after starting an addition to her home, Cheryl Palmitier's unfinished project in Northwest Grand Rapids was barely a shell, and the workman she had hired to do the job had stopped showing up.

"The addition was supposed to include a bedroom, garage, bathroom and an expanded laundry room," Palmitier, 47, explained. "I had to do something -- so, I decided to finish it myself."

She did it through the help of the Fix-It School classes offered by Home Repair Services.

They take place in a one-room, full-scale house model constructed inside the Home Repair Services building, 1100 S. Division Ave.

The house includes three types of siding -- vinyl, wood and aluminum -- along with different windows, cut-away areas and portable hands-on props, such as a see-through toilet, exposed plumbing and set-ups to show window and door construction.

Welcome: Dick Lower, of Home Repair Services, demonstrates one of the Fix-It School's classroom props, a cut-away door.

More information

Take a look at a Home Repair Services class and listen to what former students have to say with video by Michael Webber.

Get in touch with Home Repair Services, 1100 S. Division Ave., by calling 241-2601, or online at homerepairservices.org.

"The whole building is really a classroom," said Dick Lower, a retired mason who teaches classes and works in the Home Repair Services store. "Even if someone comes into the store, and I need to explain something, we can use the props to show them how to do it."

Personal experience

A veteran of many home maintenance classes at Home Repair Services, Palmitier had learned the basics of home construction, including plumbing, electrical work, tiling and drywall, then applied those skills at home. She tore out the old laundry room, put in cement block footings, built support trusses, installed interior doors and laid her own carpet.

"I also put on my own siding and did my own roofing," she says. On weekends, her grown son, Lucas Baillargeon, and her brother, Jon Palmitier, came to help with the heavy work. She also got construction advice from a friend, Albert Roper, of Lansing.

Home Repair Services classes, offered free to everyone, regardless of income, are designed to teach immediately useful skills.

"We have a very practical approach," said Judy Jordan, education coordinator for the nonprofit organization that provides programs, services and resources primarily for lower income homeowners and their families.

"Often, the instructor will ask individuals what it is they need to learn so they can address the needs of the participants," Jordan said.

Once folks take the classes, they understand they can make many of these repairs and improvements themselves, she added. "We take the mystery out of it," she said. In the past 12 months, 692 people have attended Fix-It School classes.

Providing basic and practical information for homeowners, the classes are taught by mostly volunteers.

"Each instructor has (his or her) own teaching style, but all are sensitive to the needs of the participants," Jordan said.

For those who have taken the Fix-It School classes, the results show not only in their improved homes but in their self-esteem.

"I'm really happy I can do this myself," Palmitier said. "They always told me that I could do this."

Other projects in different stages include a tiled corner gas fireplace unit, brick pathways outdoors and a kitchen re-do.

"I still have a lot to do, but I know I can do it," said Palmitier. who has owned her older, one-story home since 1989 and works at a local fastener manufacturing company.

Sixty percent of those who have taken classes or tapped into other resources the organization offers are female heads of households.

Classes range from fixing a faucet and finishing drywall to installing ceiling fans, electrical wiring and pouring concrete. Classes are free, and participants don't have to sign up in advance.

Once a year, a series of construction classes is offered, covering basics from building a wall from the studs and framing to installing windows, doors, siding and drywall.

Especially for women

The nonprofit also offers a series designed for women only. Featured several times a year, the classes include decorating techniques, home projects and making simple home repairs. Home Repair Services also offers classes in money management and finances, saving energy and lead-safe cleaning and work practices.

It also has a library, a tool-lending library and a retail store where low-income homeowners can purchase building materials and products at a discount.

"Hopefully, through our classes and other services, we can give people the confidence to take better care of their homes," Jordan said, and in turn make life better for their families.